33 Weeks

My nifty little weekly emails reminded me that today officially marks 33 weeks pregnant, meaning roughly 7 weeks to go before she arrives, and reportedly she weighs about 4 pounds at this point (pineapple sized). I believe it - when she stretches, I feel like I need to stretch with her in order to give her space.

Good news is, last we checked, she had flipped to the appropriate head-down position. Which means that one sore spot where her head and Papillon's knee used to meet is feeling much better.  Bad news is that between Papillon's relative heft (a decent 24+ lbs now!) and the Little One's ongoing growth, I have definitely acquired a sore back and a bit of a pregnancy waddle.   But, that being the worst of my complaints, I really can't complain at all. It seems pregnancy has decided to be good to me for a 2nd time around. 

I look at my precious, bouncy little toddler, and feel my sweet baby stretch inside me and I can't help but be overwhelmed with how blessed  we are. Mon Amour and I both realize it, God is truly blessing us in this stage of life. Not just with our little girls, but his job, our church and friends, etc etc. 

Anyway, back to strictly baby related things. 

Braxton hicks have begun; just occasionally. I realized that last pregnancy I was definitely having Braxton Hicks, but I didn't recognize them so I didn't think I had any.   In retrospect, I don't know how I missed them, but what can you do; if you recall, I spent probably a good 8 hours in active labor before recognizing what that was either. So, call me clueless.  But I recognize them now - my stomach gets all tight, it doesn't hurt at all, unless Papillon runs into me for a hug while my muscles are still contracted. Its very interesting how much more sensitive a contracted muscle is than a relaxed one.

Recently I have learned what it means when people would say that their lap disappeared while pregnant.  In my mind you would have to be gigantic for your lap to actually disappear, but it's officially gone. Papillon can attest to that. She has to readjust herself 3 or 4 times on my lap before she can get comfortable. There is just not enough space for the baby and Papillon to both be comfortable at this point. 

I am still roughly on target with my weight gain from Papillon's pregnancy. Averaging a pound per week from the very beginning.   At first with this little girl, I felt like I was gaining it all over (including my face, etc) , more so than with Papillon.  But now I feel like this little one looks like a delightfully compact little belly.  Rounder and lower than Papillon. What do you think? (closest comparison pic I can find is 31 weeks)

We are making progress towards being ready for her.  Papillon is slowly but surely transitioning to her big girl room. Naps tend to be a smidgen shorter than normal in the big girl bed, but otherwise, I can't complain. She loves it.  Next week we will work on going all night in her big girl room.

My ability to sleep is still decent, though my body pillow is a necessity for sure.  And rolling over requires waking up, readjusting pillows and getting totally re-situated. And I have totally embraced sleeping as late as Papillon will let me.  Unofficially I had been doing this for some time, though in my mind, I would at least try and get up before she woke up so I could get a jump on the day.  Not any more. I season of sleep deprivation is approaching and before it gets here I am embracing the blessing that is a little girl who generally sleeps until sometime between 7:30 - 8.

A couple of friends had babies in the past month and seeing their little ones makes me anxious (in the excited sense) to my own to arrive.  I am ready to be nursing again, ready to have a tiny snuggly bundle to hug, even ready to be up all night with her. (not that it won't be exhausting, but thats what comes along with a newborn, and I am ready for my newborn to need me to be up all night with her) I am looking forward to seeing how much she looks like Papillon. Excited to try out my new Ergo. Excited to see how much Papillon loves her. Just plain excited. 

That said, I am also decently nervous. Nervous about doing labor again since I won't have cluelessness on my side this time. Nervous about how I will handle Papillon's occasional tantrums when I am sleep deprived. Nervous about managing both kids when Mon Amour travels again. Nervous about how anything is going to get down when I am juggling two little ones schedules. Nervous about pushing myself too hard to get stuff done cause I don't like to admit that I can't do something.  Oh. So much to be nervous about. 

But mostly I am excited. March 22nd seems so close and yet so far away. I love having my little one inside me, I can't help but smile every time I feel her kick (after Papillon was born, I actually missed her kicks for a couple weeks, even though I had her in my arms. There is something specially lovely about movement before they are born - a uniquely mom-baby time.  I am pretty sure I will miss these movements again this time) And I love that so very soon I will get to see her pretty little face.